A Tale of Two Loves
by kalilona
Summary: Hermione Granger is engaged to marry Ron Weasley. When a nasty truth comes out, she turns to her closest friend for support. What happens when the grieving is over and she and Fred continue to get closer? How will it affect their friendships and other aspects of their lives? Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was not the kind of girl to get giddy about a boy. But here she was, squealing with two of her closet girlfriends – Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley – about a boy. Ron Weasley had finally, after six years of dating, gotten around to proposing.

"How did he do it?" asked Luna.

Hermione replied, "Well, it wasn't anything extravagant. He asked while we were at dinner at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Wait, what?" said Ginny in the fiery tone that meant trouble. "I specifically told him that he should do something special. Not just propose over dinner. And the Leaky Cauldron? What was he thinking? I know he's my brother and whatnot but Merlin he's stupid."

Luna let out a small chuckle that clearly meant she agreed with the redhead.

"It's not that bad. I mean, I have imagined that it would be a more one of a kind moment, but it was very Ron," Hermione said, defending her now fiancé.

"You deserve a unique proposal. You're a unique girl. But I'm so glad he finally asked. I know I was getting impatient, so surely you were!" Ginny joked.

"I was starting to think that the Nargles that are always floating around his head were affecting his decision making abilities," Luna speculated.

"I don't know about Nargles, but I was getting concerned about his decision making too," added Ginny.

Hermione smiled at her two friends. They were right – it had taken Ron a long time to propose compared to her friends. She knew that six years wasn't all that long, but it seems like it is when everyone around you is getting married. Harry and Ginny had gotten married first just two years after the war was over. At this moment, Ginny was seven months pregnant with their first child. Luna had married Neville Longbottom just two months earlier on Hogwarts grounds where Neville had just taken a teaching position in Herbology. George proposed to Angelina Johnson and the two were set be wed the coming summer.

Hermione left her two friends sitting at the Burrow's kitchen table to go for a walk. She knew there was nothing she could do to convince Ginny that the proposal was a good one, even if it was stereotypical. As she approached the willow tree near the small pond, she felt herself relax for the first time since dinner the night before.

Fred Weasley was running around the shop he owned with his twin like a mad man. There was an influx of customers due to Hogwarts recently letting out for the summer holidays and it was very obviously taking a toll on him. His twin was nowhere to be found in the shop which told Fred that George had once again snuck away to see Angelina at Quality Quidditch Supplies where she worked.

Fred was trying to round up the Pygmy Puffs that some upcoming second years had somehow managed to release from their cages. He also noticed an older student knock down the Wonder Witch display while obviously trying to flirt with a giggling blonde a row over.

Fred loved his shop, but somedays, like today, he wished he could get away for a little while. He was in a foul mood and didn't know why. He should be happy! His little brother had finally wised up and proposed to Hermione but yet, he just wasn't able to feel the joy he knew he should.

He finally rounded up the last Pygmy Puff and quickly waved his wand to right the Wonder Witch display as he walked towards to cash registers. At the same time, George came bounding through the doors with a smile as wide as the Atlantic Ocean.

"Oh Forge! It's such a beautiful day!" George bellowed.

"It'll be even more beautiful when you actually get to work," Fred quipped.

George laughed, "Ah, don't be a tosser. I was only gone for an hour."

"More like three," Fred mumbled as he checked out the last customer in line.

"Besides, we close in an hour! I expected it to die down a bit. And Angie needed me to help her decide what to wear tonight."

"What's tonight?" Fred asked.

"Ron and Hermione's engagement party at the Burrow, remember? Mom was so excited about them getting engaged, she already had the whole thing planned for about a year. All she had to do was add the date and time to the invitations and send them out." George joked.

"Right. Well, you finish up down here and I'll go skive off for an hour," Fred said as he tossed his twin a set of Magenta robes. "See you later!" Fred bounded up the stairs to the flat that he and George shared. He couldn't believe that in just a few months he would be living here alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Obviously, I own nothing related to Harry Potter. That would be the great J. K. Rowling. This is my second every fanfic and my first for Harry Potter, so please review. And tell me what you don't like along with what you like! I promise, Fremione is coming!**

That evening found everyone crowded into the Burrow to celebrate Ron and Hermione's engagement. The entire Weasley clan and their respected partners, and in Bill and Fleur's case children, were at the party plus Hermione's parents, whom she had reconnected with since the war ended, and many of Ron and Hermione's classmates from Hogwarts.

Hermione was glowing with excitement and was showing off her ring to anyone who would look, though she was avoiding telling the story of the proposal since telling Ginny. Ron, however, seemed on edge. His mother had, unbeknownst to him, invited his old girlfriend from Hogwarts, Lavender Brown. Why she had actually shown up was a question that Ron just couldn't answer.

After making her rounds to see most of their guests, Hermione found herself seated on the couch with two of her favorite clients, Fred and George. Hermione had gone into accounting on the side while she worked with the Ministry in the Department of Protection for Magical Creatures. Over the years she had found herself spending more time on her accounting business until she finally decided to leave the Ministry to work on accounting full time. Fred and George had been her very first clients and they continued to be her favorite clients until this day.

"Hey Mione. How are you liking the party?" George asked.

"I love it. Your mum was so kind to do this for us. Though Ron seems pretty put out that she invited Lavender without telling him," Hermione mused.

"He'll get over it. It should be thrilled! He gets to marry the smartest witch of our age!" teased Fred.

"You know I hate being called that," Hermione muttered. She knew that the twins knew. They said it just to get a rise out of her.

"So since you're going to be our sister now, does that mean you'll do our accounting for free?" George inquired.

"I already only charge you guys half my usual rate!" Hermione said in an exasperated tone.

"But that was because we're your favorites. Now we're your favorites…" said Fred.

"And your brothers!" George chimed in.

"So we should get a fifty percent discount for each of those!" Fred added.

"Sorry boys, I have to make money somehow!" Hermione laughed.

Suddenly Ron appeared behind the couch. "You don't have to make any money at all Hermione. I'm an Auror!" Ron said.

Hermione and the twins jumped in their seats a bit, not knowing Ron was behind them.

"I'll always want to make money too. I love what I do," Hermione said. She knew that Ron hoped she would stay at home once they had kids, but she just couldn't imagine herself doing that. That was one of the many things they found themselves arguing about from time to time.

"We'll see how you feel after we have some kids," Ron said as he walked away.

After Ron's quip, the party had slowly started dying down. Those older attendees and those with children left first, cited bed times for themselves and the children. Not long after that, everyone but the Weasleys seemed to have drifted home as well.

After several more hours, Hermione and Ron flooed home to their shared flat. Seeing as it was nearly midnight, Hermione started getting ready for bed.

"Are you coming to bed?" she asked Ron as she slipped under the covers.

"Oh, uh, in a bit. I want to look at this report before I go to bed," Ron stammered.

Hermione didn't question it. She had learned to not ask much about Ron's work. He always said that he wasn't allowed to talk about what he did, so she stopped asking.

She fell asleep that night not knowing that her new fiancé was writing to an old girlfriend that he had reconnected with that night at their engagement party.


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks passed and Hermione returned to her usual schedule. Today she would be going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to work on the ever growing piles of paperwork that the twins accumulated. She loved the days she worked at the twins' shop. Whenever she felt her eyes straining from looking at all the papers she would grab a magenta robe and help out with the shop or one of their new products for a few minutes. She had found that the twins were quite adept at charms and potions, despite being jokesters in school.

Over the years of working with them, she had become very good friends with the twins, spending at least one evening a week with them that past few weeks since Ron had been working late. She planned to spend this evening with them and Harry and Ginny since Ron had told her that he would be going on an overnight trip for work.

She sighed as she gathered her things for the day. Ron had been gone more and more since their engagement. Something about it was bothering her, but she couldn't figure out why. She knew that being an Auror meant putting in long days and sometimes nights, but those long days and nights had increased very suddenly. She was just about to floo to the shop when she heard a light peck on a window in another room.

"Is that an owl?" she wondered out loud. Owls typically came to their kitchen window. It was the most easily accessed and was toward the center of the flat. She followed the noise to the room where Ron kept his work files. She hesitated before opening the door; she knew he didn't like her going in there. But she didn't want to leave an owl hanging out until Ron got back tomorrow evening so she went to let it in.

The owl swooped in swiftly as Hermione opened the window. It immediately dropped its letter and went to the top of the filing cabinet where it pulled an owl treat out of a canister.

" _Strange,"_ Hermione thought. _"It knew that there were treats over there."_

Hermione picked the letter up off the floor to put on Ron's desk in the corner of the room when she noticed that it had literally been sealed with a kiss – and it had Ron's name on it. She knew she shouldn't open it. She knew that it could only lead to hurt. And yet, she was sliding her finger under the seal already. She unfolded the letter to read:

 _My dear Ron,_

 _I am so looking forward to spending tonight with you in London. I know you say you can't leave Hermione, but can't we just run away together? After some time everyone would get over being upset. You don't even love her. It's me, it's always been me._

 _I love you,_

 _Lav_

Hermione read the letter several times. She didn't want to believe what she was reading. Surely Ron wasn't actually cheating on her. She needed to talk to someone. But who? All of her closest friends were either one of Ron's siblings or married to one of them.

After some serious consideration, she wrote to the twins saying that she would be coming to the shop later in the day and headed to Harry's office in the Ministry.


End file.
